Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 249 Death is coming
At one o'clock in the morning, all was quiet.

Blood Lord sat alone in his dimly lit study, wide awake.

The tablet screen in front of him was lit up, and the ongoing video call connected him to a bizarre and surreal instance space filled with a vague sense of impending doom and ominous premonition—[Final Destination]. This was a Western-style instance, but it was better known among the reincarnators as: Final Destination.

Only a top-tier team like theirs would have so many tools to connect the instance space to the real world.

The woman on the other side of the screen was none other than Valeria, the Blood Spider, a member of the Bloody Team who was feared by all.

It's fair to say that within the entire Bloodstained Clan, the terrifying name of Blood Spider, to many, is comparable to that of Blood Lord. If Blood Lord represents lawful evil, then Blood Spider represents chaotic evil.

At this moment, she was sitting elegantly in an extremely dangerous place—at a table in the towering Sky Tower restaurant, with a glass of blood-red wine in front of her.

This rooftop restaurant is 150 meters above the ground. Inside, the lights are romantic and guests are gathered. A black lead singer is singing on stage, and many guests are dancing on a transparent tempered glass that allows them to see directly to the ground!
Those who have seen the original movie know what terrifying things are about to happen, but Valeria only sees a detached, almost cruel, playful observation.

"Blood Spider," Blood Lord's voice came through the speaker, deep and serious, "I need your help with Jiang Jin's situation."

Valeria gently swirled her wine glass, a cold smile curving her lips: "Oh? This hunter who's been making headlines lately, is he worth your serious attention?"

"Whether it's worth it or not depends on the long term," Blood Lord said in a deep voice. "Minister Long Mingzhang is the strongest driving force behind the cooperation between the Chinese and American Reincarnators, especially the cooperation with the Duncan Club. He considers this one of his most important achievements during his tenure. But the people from the Duncan Club just arrived and caused this mess, which has now become a major scandal. He can't protect them even if he wants to, and he will inevitably be held accountable afterward. Knowing him as I do, he will not give up easily in the future. I don't know where Jiang Jin got his courage. At this critical juncture, I'm making my stance clear and fully supporting Jiang Jin. He will naturally be grateful for my help, and forming an alliance with him to deal with the Insect Nest will be a natural progression."

He paused, then continued, "But verbal support alone is not enough. Ultimately, it comes down to strength among reincarnators. I need something substantial to mediate between Long Mingzhang and Jiang Jin. And coincidentally, you happen to be in this terrifying Final Destination instance."

"So what do you want me to do?" Valeria took a sip of her drink, her gaze sweeping over the NPCs in the restaurant who were completely oblivious to the impending catastrophe. "Find you a gift in this damned, endlessly dying dungeon?"

“It’s precisely by utilizing this instance.” Blood Lord’s eyes sharpened. “‘Final Destination’ is an extremely special memetic contamination phenomenon. Unlike those memes that are incredibly terrifying in the contamination layer but become harmless in the material layer, its most terrifying aspect is that its killing rules rely entirely on the logic chain of the material layer—all deaths are achieved through seemingly reasonable and coincidental chain reactions in reality. This kind of meme that can directly interfere with and distort the rules of the material layer is precisely what Long Mingzhang is most worried about being used by the Old Core. Conversely, once its memetic carrier is obtained, it will inevitably contain powerful strength, and even against reincarnators with normal SAN values, it will still have immense value.”

"Oh, that……"

"If you can use your 'death rewind' ability to find and obtain this meme carrier, I can use it as leverage to mediate between Minister Long and Jiang Jin, and even use it to curry favor with the Duncan Club, since they have always wanted to obtain the relevant meme carrier in the Final Destination instance."

Blood Lord further elaborated on his speculation: "Based on our analysis of the prototype movie of this instance, Final Destination 6: Blood Curse, the coin that the brat threw during the origin disaster—that is, the collapse of the Sky Tower where you are right now—is a key meme trigger point that spans the entire movie, and may even be a powerful meme carrier itself. It triggered a series of deadly chain reactions."

"All you have to do is get that coin, take it, and leave the Sky Tower safely with it."

A glint of excitement flashed in Valeria's eyes, like a spider spotting its prey in its web: "Interesting... Snatching something from Death's grasp? Or its core toy? I like this challenge."

“It’s extremely difficult,” Blood Lord warned. “The trajectory of that coin is full of uncertainty. It bounces, rolls, and precisely triggers a series of coincidences. Initially, it caused the accident at the Sky Tower, and in the movie’s ending, it caused the train derailment that killed the female protagonist and her brother. You must accurately capture it before or during the chaotic disaster. At the same time, you must ensure that you can escape before the tower completely collapses. Your ‘Death Rewind’ is your greatest asset, but it is not unlimited.”

“Don’t worry, Captain.” Valeria’s smile turned sinister and dangerous. “When it comes to death… I’m the most patient hunter. But… in the movie, didn’t the heroine’s grandmother, Alice, successfully keep that coin? It doesn’t seem that difficult…”

"The female protagonist's grandmother is a rare example of someone with exceptionally strong luck in all six parts of the series. Her protagonist aura is even stronger than that of the female protagonist. I ask myself, none of us reincarnators have such strong luck."

The horror scenario of Final Destination is actually quite troublesome for many reincarnators. After all, the physical defense of many reincarnators is not much different from that of ordinary people. If it is a spiritual attack, they have many ways to defend against it. However, if it is various safety accidents in the real world, it is more likely to bring them death.

As soon as she finished speaking, the background noise of the video call indicated that the plot inside the restaurant was steadily unfolding.

In the center of the Sky Tower Restaurant, bathed in the glow of the setting sun, young Alice was immersed in the romantic surprise her lover, Paul, had meticulously prepared. Paul knelt on one knee, holding a ring box in his hands, his expression full of affection. The surrounding guests smiled, anticipating this wonderful moment.

However, not far away, a mischievous child was tossing a coin high in the air to play with it out of boredom and playfulness.

Just then, Alice, through her premonition of death, foresaw that the Sky Tower would collapse, and the coin in the child's hand was one of the major causes of the disaster!

She immediately went to stop him, trying to snatch the coin from the child's hand!
However, it's different from the movie plot.

Valeria and Blood Lord's intentions, under the influence of the memes' will, altered the movie's plot!
The coin streaked across the railing and plummeted downwards.

Alice failed to snatch the coin!
The deadly coin fell directly into the entrance of a ventilation duct. It bounced and jingled as it descended the dark duct.

Meanwhile, the restaurant's transparent glass floor, due to its load-bearing capacity and design flaws, has begun to bear enormous pressure, emitting a faint, ominous creaking sound, and cracks are quietly spreading like a spider web.

A coin slid rapidly through the ventilation duct, accidentally sparking a flame. This tiny spark instantly ignited the gas leaking from the duct due to previous construction issues.

Alice immediately went inside the restaurant to remind everyone: Stay away from the glass!

But, it was too late.

Crack—Bang! The massive glass floor finally shattered under the continuous impact!

The guests who were dancing and walking on it suddenly let out shrill screams and fell from the sky like dumplings being dropped into a pot!
People were terrified and fled frantically through the restaurant. One woman, while running away, bumped into a still-burning pot held by the chef and instantly became a human torch!
She happened to be passing by the ventilation duct from which the gas was leaking!

In an instant, the fire engulfed half of the restaurant!

People were terrified! Explosions followed one after another, causing further structural damage.

Of all the people in the group, only Valeria remained calm throughout.

People initially tried to escape via the stairs, but the shoddy construction began to collapse completely due to a series of chain reactions. The stairs collapsed, and countless people fell to the ground.

Then everyone tried to escape via the elevator, but because too many people entered, it became overloaded, the elevator cable snapped, and the car plummeted at high speed with a screeching sound; in addition, the only escape staircase was twisted and collapsed in the explosion. Tianjing Tower seemed to have become a burning, disintegrating death cage.

Valeria remained seated, even taking another sip of her drink, coldly observing the hellish scene unfolding before her.

As a medium, her powerful mental energy spread out like a spider web, precisely tracking the coin that kept bouncing and changing position under the influence of various chaotic factors such as the shockwave of the explosion and the running of the crowd!

It seemed to come alive, dancing a deathly dance to the symphony of destruction, constantly escaping Valeria's mental search!
Finally, the Blood Spider locked onto the coin's trajectory! It was bouncing towards her!
But at that moment, the floor beneath her feet completely collapsed and disintegrated.

A sudden feeling of weightlessness washed over her, and Valeria, along with the table and chairs, plummeted into the dark abyss.

The wind howled in her ears, and below, the city streetscape grew closer and clearer.

However, there was no trace of fear on her face.

Just moments before she was about to be smashed to pieces, a strangely shaped, jet-black dagger appeared in her hand. Without hesitation, she used the dagger with incredible precision to slash her own throat!
Her rule-based class skill—Death Rewind—is activated!

The scene was like a videotape playing in reverse. Valeria's consciousness experienced a brief period of darkness and dizziness. The next moment, she found herself sitting steadily in a chair in the Sky Tower restaurant.

Just then, Paul knelt down and opened the ring box; Alice's face beamed with happiness and surprise; the surrounding guests were preparing to offer their blessings; and that mischievous child continued to play with the coin...

Time rewinds to the moment she activated her skill! The disaster has not yet occurred, but the countdown to death has already begun.

Without the slightest hesitation, Valeria instantly stood up from her seat!
Her movements were incredibly fast yet exceptionally light, as she prepared to snatch the coin back from the brat, even if it meant killing him.

The mischievous child laughed and was about to toss the coin again.

On her first attempt, Valeria teleported almost instantly to the child's side and reached out to snatch the child's hand.

However, a guest happened to turn around, and his wine glass "accidentally" slipped from his hand, the wine and glass hitting Valeria's wrist and hindering her movement. A coin was tossed away by a mischievous child!
"Tsk." Valeria knew she had failed again. She turned around and plunged the black dagger into her own heart.

Second death rewind!
……

The third time she looked back... she almost caught the coin, but her efforts were in vain when a waiter "accidentally" slipped and bumped into her.

The fourth time she tried to rewind... she successfully caught the coin, but before she could hold it tightly, the cable of a huge chandelier above her head suddenly snapped, and the heavy chandelier crashed down...

……

Eleventh retrospective.

Valeria's face was already pale to the point of being transparent; the repeated use of "Death Rewind" had taken a tremendous toll on her mind and body.

But her eyes grew brighter and brighter, filled with a fanatical excitement.

She began to calculate every disruption and anticipate every "unexpected event."

She became increasingly familiar with Death's modus operandi of killing through "materialistic coincidences."

This time, she didn't rush directly at the unruly child. Instead, the instant the coin was tossed, she kicked over a gentleman standing nearby.

The gentleman "accidentally" slipped and fell, attracting the attention of the mischievous child who was tossing a coin.

At the same time, Valeria lunged forward and reached out her hand!
Snapped!
A cold, hard sensation came through!
She held the coin firmly in her palm!
Almost at the same moment the coin was grasped, the sound of shattering glass rang out! The entire Tianjing Tower was once again on the verge of collapse!
Death seemed to fly into a rage the moment its vessel was taken away, and the intensity of the disaster seemed to suddenly escalate!
Without even glancing at the collapsing scene and the falling crowd behind her, Valeria gripped the coin tightly, turned around, and rushed towards the emergency exit at top speed!

The staircase was twisting, and flames and thick smoke filled the air.

But she has experienced multiple death rewinds, narrowly avoiding falling building materials time and time again.

She pushed her speed to the limit, finally breaking through the thick smoke. Covered in soot and dust, looking slightly disheveled but unharmed, she stepped out of the Tianjing Tower. Above her, she heard an explosion and a deafening roar.

She opened her palm, and there lay quietly in her hand the seemingly ordinary coin that was stained with countless drops of blood and curses!
She fled to a location far from the Sky Tower, by which time she had become a target on the Grim Reaper's kill list.
She called Blood Lord again, who watched everything through the screen and finally a satisfied smile appeared on his lips.

"Got the item. Blood Spider, well done. Use your Town Portal Rune now and bring me the coin!"

(End of this chapter)